Student's Charity Lives On

SUNRISE — Feeding the homeless and helping needy children was his son Chad's idea, Al Nzeakor said.

"The whole thing started from him, and from the dining room table," Nzeakor said, smiling.

He glanced over his shoulder at the dining room, past the evidence of Chad's boyhood report cards and awards and letters of commendation from charitable organizations and all manner of people who recognized his son's incredible potential.

Chad Nzeakor was 15 or 16 then -- an age when many teens enjoy the privilege of being selfish. So it was a surprise when, after a particularly bountiful meal, the teen suggested to his family that they give the leftovers to the homeless.

"The explanation he gave me was, `Why should this be trash? There are people who are hungry,'" Al Nzeakor said.

Chad, an FIU student who graduated from Piper High School in Sunrise, was killed June 23, 2000, after his roommate Brian Dixon's 1994 Acura Integra crashed into a tree on University Drive near Broward Boulevard in Plantation. He was 21.

By recreating a sense of his son, Al Nzeakor has created something else: charitable organizations to continue the volunteer work Chad started.

"We are trying to continue with what he loved doing, that is, to reach out to people," Nzeakor said.

The Chad Nzeakor Scholarship Foundation and Chad's Children Rescue Network help feed the homeless, give scholarships to university students, and give toys and educational materials to critically ill children in area hospitals. The Nzeakors are also raising funds to create a Broward County children's center in their son's name.

This weekend the Nzeakors are holding a celebration of their son's life at 1:45 p.m. Sunday at the Polish American Club, 235 Rock Island Road, in North Lauderdale. There they will present two scholarships to college students and share memories of Chad's life.

The service is preceded by an 11:30 a.m. church service at All Saints Catholic Church, 10900 W. Oakland Park Blvd., in Sunrise, and a blessing of the entombment at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Cemetery, North Lauderdale.Exactly one year has passed since the crash that killed Chad, Dixon, 20, of Fort Lauderdale, and Jeffrey Silston, 22, of Miami.

In the hours and days after Chad's death exactly one year ago today, Al Nzeakor's grief gripped him so fiercely, he wanted to die, too.

He examined photographs of the crumpled Acura. He interviewed rescue workers who talked to Chad before he died. He visited soup kitchens where his son volunteered. He talked to his friends, the children he mentored.

He remembered how his son, who worked at Winn-Dixie, bought food as it was going on sale and then served it at soup kitchens.

"He learned something and practiced it more than me, so it is for me to learn something back from him," he said.

This week at Florida International University in Miami there are reflections of Chad's life and the lives of Brian Dixon and Jeff Silston, who were all well-known as leaders in the campus's residential life.

Cathy Akens, director of residential life at FIU, said the students have used the year to heal.

"People have been talking about it. Really, in the last few weeks, people have been recognizing that it's coming up to a year," Akens said.

Students planted a 15-foot tree in memory of all three young men.

Prakash Karnani, 21, met Chad as a freshman. The two were in a program to help first-year students adjust to campus life. Later Chad became a mentor in the program. He had also just been elected president of the council in Panther Hall, where he lived, before he died.

Karnani said many of the students weren't aware of Chad's earlier volunteer work to help the homeless. They only knew of his volunteering and leadership roles on campus. He played video games and could be seen grilling food during functions at an African club on campus, Karnani said.

"He was very relaxed. He wouldn't really stress about things," Karnani said.

Students raised about $3,000 for a BCJ scholarship, using the first initials of each of the three young men's names. They hope to raise enough money to endow the scholarship. A framed poem and their pictures hang in one of the main lounges of the hall.

"It's just the three students were so well liked in the university community, both by other students as well as staff here," Akens said. "They had a lot of friends.

"He was very, very giving," she said. "Chad was someone who was always concerned about how he could help other people. He had a very good sense of humor."

Chad's friends from FIU have been invited to the memorial service this weekend.

Al Nzeakor wants to convey a sense of warmth, a sense of the man who was his son, through the celebration of his life, and through the charitable works he started.